A Last Villain Stand is where the villain [[MookDepletion has lost his army]] (if he had one), his plan has been ruined, and he decides to fight the heroes on his own. Usually he uses AppliedPhlebotinum or a PlotCoupon to take on a OneWingedAngel form (or at least [[MakeMyMonsterGrow grow to]] [[AttackOfTheFiftyFootWhatever giant size]]) and becomes more powerful than ever before.

Usually, this is a desperate play by the villain when he has nothing left to lose, has gone through a VillainousBreakdown, and all that he's driven by now is a mad thirst for {{revenge}} for the heroes thwarting his plans to rule [[WorldDomination the world,]] [[GalacticConqueror the universe,]] or [[VisionaryVillain whatever he was after.]] He may take things to such an extreme that he doesn't care what happens to him as long as he destroys the good guys. Also he may be deluding himself with the thought that its not all over and that he will win somehow and may even tell it to his enemies, even when its impossible to see how the tide can turn now. It usually ends with the villain being destroyed and the heroes coming out alive.

There are some cases where this trope is inverted when the villain is a OneManArmy, his one man stand is not so desperate and he's still able to carry out his diabolical plans on his own. If this is the case, the villain is usually defeated when [[NewPowersAsThePlotDemands a miracle happens and the heroes gain the power needed to defeat him]]. This requires a certain amount of VillainousValor, and if played correctly it may shift the audience's sympathy a bit more toward him.

Unlike a LastBreathBullet, the villain is still very much alive. However, this can still lead to TakingYouWithMe. Compare with LastStand, where it's the heroes who are the ones making the desperate play. Contrast with VillainExitStageLeft, where the villain flees instead of staying to fight to the end.----!!Examples:

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[[folder:Anime and Manga]]* Just about every villain in ''Anime/DigimonAdventure'' has one of these. In fact, the dub version of the episode where Piedmon, the literal MonsterClown, met his destruction was called "Piedmon's Last Jest". Of course, these examples could be considered inversions as they were able to successfully deal with the heroes only to be defeated when one of the members unlocked their digimon's newest evolution, thus giving them the strength to overpower the villains.* Frieza's last shot at Goku, in ''Anime/DragonBallZ'', certainly counts. Frieza had lost all his minions, failed to obtain immortality, had been demonstrated as not being the strongest in the universe, had even been cut in half ([[HoistByHisOwnPetard by his own attack, no less]]), and was only alive because he begged his enemy to give him enough energy to survive his injuries. Instead of using that energy to try to escape Namek before it exploded, he tries to kill Goku one last time, only for Goku to blast that energy right back in his face.** He recovers though, albeit only for a time-traveling Trunks to effortlessly blast him and his father to pieces.* Sugou the BigBad of the Alfheim arc in ''LightNovel/SwordArtOnline'' attempts one last chance to kill Kirito in the real world, after being defeated which causes him to suffer a complete breakdown and had lost everything he planned to achieve, he came close to winning, but Kirito gradually beat the crap out of him and left him nothing but a broken wreck.* Megatron at the end of ''Anime/TransformersCybertron''. After he loses the [[CosmicKeystone Omega Lock]], his minions have deserted him, and his plan to reshape the universe to his own desire is foiled, he decides to go all out and ruin the Autobots' plan to save the Jungle Planet for [[ForTheEvulz no logical reason]] while challenging Optimus Prime to a final battle.* During the battle of Narita in CodeGeass, Viceroy Cornelia is cornered by the [[LaResistance Black Knights]], and opts to pull one of these rather than surrender and be taken prisoner, complete with appropriate last words. [[spoiler: This is [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] when Suzaku shows up in his SuperPrototype just in time to pull a VillainousRescue.]]* During his final battle against [[spoiler: Ichigo]] in ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'', [[spoiler: Grimmjow is sliced twice in the torso and stabbed in the heart]] but refuses to go down until [[spoiler: he is sneak-attacked by Nnoitra]]* ''Gundam'' has had more than a few of these:** The ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'' episode "Big Zam's Last Stand" serves as one for Dozle Zabi and the titular [[HumongousMecha Big Zam]]. With his forces defeated by the Federation, Dozle sorties in the Big Zam, a prototype mobile armour, buying his troops enough time to retreat before he is killed by Amuro Ray. [[DyingMomentOfAwesome In the process he kills about half the Federation fleet, and nearly takes the Gundam with him]].*** And ''then'', after the Big Zam is crippled by the Gundam and about to explode, he walks out in space and [[DefiantToTheEnd shoots the Gundam with an assault rifle]]. Amuro sees his determination to fight to the end embodied by a demonic spirit, and not only nearly craps himself from the vision, but ''almost forgot to get the Gundam away from the imminent explosion''.** One could argue that the last five episodes of ''Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam'' serve as one of these for BigBad [[DarkMessiah Paptimus Scirocco]] and the [[StateSec Titans]] as a whole. Outlawed by the Earth Federation, and hunted by the AEUG, with their leadership in tatters, and their superweapons totalled, the Titans ally themselves with Haman Khan (TheBigBad of the next installment, ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamZZ'', who is planning to use and then discard the Titans) and throw themselves into one last battle with the pursuing AEUG. There is no question in the viewers or the characters' minds at this point that, no matter the outcome of the battle, Scirocco and his followers are going down, whether at the hands of their enemies or their allies. The only question remaining is how many heroes are [[TakingYouWithMe going down with them]]? [[spoiler:Thanks to [[HeroKiller Yazan Gable]] the answer is "[[KillEmAll most of them]]."]]* In Manga/GingaNagareboshiGin, for the final chapter, the BigBad takes on a whole legion of dogs. The entire chapter is nothing ''but'' the FinalBattle, and the guy does '''[[MadeOfIron not]]''' [[RasputinianDeath go]] [[DoNotGoGentle gentle]].* ''Manga/OnePiece'' does it relatively scarcely, since thwarting the BigBad's plan typically has Luffy pummeling them enough to kill a normal person…ten or a hundred times over. The first Big Bad that actually does it is Gekko Moria of the Seven Warlords of the Sea (''Shichibukai'' in Japanese); Luffy and his crew have wrecked his base and have just defeated his most powerful monster, and he himself is rather the worse for wear. So, in order to avenge himself upon them, he assimilates the 1,000 shadows he has on the island into his own body, absorbing all of their power and growing into a giant monster. Even in spite of the reduction in speed it gives him, and the fact that it's hard for even him to control that many shadows, it's still an effective One-Winged Angel form considering that the Straw Hats were on the brink of exhaustion.** It's scarce in canon thus far, but there's a non-canon example at the start of the Grand Line saga with DragonInChief Eric, user of the Kama Kama no Mi (Sickle-Sickle Fruit). He sought out Millennial Dragons in order to obtain dragonite, a substance made from their bones which created the elixir of immortality. When the Straw Hats find the dragons' nest, Eric is ready to reap his rewards, but Luffy ends his hopes by sending him flying as a TwinkleInTheSky. Later, as the pirates are climbing Reverse Mountain, Eric confronts them, having stowed away, and announces his intent to reap Luffy's bounty as compensation for what he had done. Subverted, however, in that before he can fight, Nami pulls a LookBehindYou and then knocks him overboard.** Surprisingly, of all the antagonists, [[spoiler:Donquixote Doflamingo has one of these in the Dressrosa arc. His toy slaves have been freed, he's been outed as the fiend he truly is to his subjects and lost his stranglehold on Dressrosa, all his executives have either been defeated or pulled a HeelFaceTurn, and he's been thoroughly trounced by Luffy's new Gear Fourth mode. As such, he decides to terminate everyone on the island by having his birdcage [[TheWallsAreClosingIn shrink around the island and destroy everything in its path]] while fighting Luffy for the last time. Fortunately, Luffy defeats him and in doing so, brings down the birdcage before it was too late]].[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]* The Anti-Monitor, multiple times during the ''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths''. After his fortress and army get destroyed, he decides it's time to take on all the heroes by himself at the dawn of time. When this partially fails, he gets so angry that he essentially forgets his goal of multiversal conquest and concentrates solely on destroying Earth, slowly and painfully. And when ''that'' fails, and the heroes think him defeated, he clings to life through sheer force of will, multiple times, finally fighting a one-on-one duel in a weakened state with the original {{Superman}}.--> ''"SUPERMAN... I... WILL... NOT... DIE... UNTIL... YOU... DIE... WITH... ME..."''* In the prologue of Crossgen's ''ComicBook/{{Sojourn}}'', EvilOverlord Mordath's armies and even his entire fortress have all fallen before the hero Ayden and his alliance. Mordath rises up from the rubble wielding his battleaxe demanding that Ayden face him. At this point he knows he has no chance of winning anymore. He just wants to meet the person responsible for his downfall face to face so he can have one good crack at him.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Fan Works]]* ''Fanfic/ChildrenOfTime'' has Professor Moriarty making one final play at hurting the heroes and being restored to normal aging. He has the heroine BoundAndGagged and viciously [[BreakThemByTalking breaks]] [[Series/DoctorWho the Doctor]] [[BreakThemByTalking by talking]]. [[spoiler:It ends in three bullets: one from Moriarty to Beth's arm, one from Watson to Moriarty's body, and one from Moriarty to his own brain.]]* In ''FanFic/EquestriaAHistoryRevealed'', during the Equestrian Civil War, Princess Luna, upon losing the bulk of her forces at the Battle of Canterlot and knowing the war was lost, pulls this tactic with her remaining forces in the Battle of the Everfree Fields; in order to take down as many of Celestia's ponies with her army as she can.* The ''FanFic/PonyPOVSeries'' has this happen with [[GeneralRipper General-Admiral Makarov]]/[[spoiler: [[HumanoidAbomination The Shadow of Chernobull]]]], the BigBad of the Shining Armor Arc. Over the course of that arc's FinalBattle, all of Makarov's superweapons are destroyed, while his army starts being forced back by Equestria and its allies, all throwing his "[[RealityWarper script]]" off the rails. Finally, due to the interference of Shining Armor and his squad mates, he finds himself facing down [[ClockRoaches the Blank Wolf]], which seeks to [[RetGone erase him]]; this makes him [[VillainousBreakdown break completely]], and he ends up fighting like a cornered animal, desperate to stay alive. [[spoiler: He loses.]]** The Changelings as a whole do this at the climax of the Wedding Arc. With their masquerade broken, most of their higher ups captured, and their brainwashed SlaveMooks/[[HumanShield Equine Shields]] freed, they barricade themselves in Canterlot castle to face down the rebellion started by the Mane Six.* ''FanFic/TheEquestrianWindMage'' does this at the end of Season 2: [[ArcVillain Ganondorf's]] armies are crushed by the allied pony forces at the Battle of the Crystal Empire, his power is sufficiently drained by his own personal battle with the Princesses, and by this point the Mane Six and their allies have regathered all of the stolen Elements of Harmony (except Magic, which he's kept on himself), defeating all his Boss-level monsters in the process. So, he flees back to [[AllYourBaseAreBelongToUs occupied Canterlot]] in an attempt to regain his strength, only to be hunted down and confronted for the FinalBattle.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Animated]]* An interesting case in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyondReturnOfTheJoker''; after the Joker's KillSat control console is sabotaged, reprogrammed to destroy the lair where he and Terry (Batman II) were presently, he attempts a VillainExitStageLeft. Terry, however, doesn't allow it, and locks the door out to force him into one of these.* ''Disney/BeautyAndTheBeastTheEnchantedChristmas'' has this with Maestro Forte, the court composer who was transformed into an OminousPipeOrgan with the enchantress's spell. He was Beast's confidant and close friend…but he was also the only resident of the castle who did not want the curse to be broken. To that end, he made every attempt that he could to sabotage Beast's relationship with Belle, while posing as the Beast's friend who only wanted the best for him. But when love eventually overcomes the Beast's bitterness, Forte goes into a VillainousBreakdown, and literally pulls out all the stops, [[spoiler:attempting to use the sound waves from his pipes to bring down the whole castle and kill Belle and Beast, stating "They can't fall in love if they're DEAD!"]]-->'''Forte''': So, Beast gets girl and it's a happy ending for everyone. Enchantment lifted, and Forte fades into the background. No longer important. No longer needed. '''I THINK NOT!'''* In ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda2'' [[spoiler:Lord Shen has his entire army destroyed, has killed his own [[TheDragon Dragon]], and lost ''everything''. When Po finds him on the wreckage of his flagship in the middle of a VillainousBreakdown and offers him a LastSecondChance, Shen rejects it and does the one thing he'd been running from the entire film, fight Po himself in a final showdown.]]* In ''Disney/{{Mulan}}'', Shan Yu after his army was wiped out by an avalanche and his generals have been captured.** He in fact does this twice: after losing most of his army, he and a small band of his most badass henchmen come very close to victory anyway, [[spoiler: and are prevented only by the [[BadassGrandpa Emperor's refusal to bow to him]] and Mulan's quick thinking.]] Following this, he tries to pull a TakingYouWithMe, and again comes very close to succeeding.* ''Disney/TheGreatMouseDetective'': BigBad Ratigan is utterly and completely defeated and OutGambitted - every single one of his options closed off by the heroes. He then resorts to attacking Basil head-on, with the singular intent of killing him.* In the climax of ''WesternAnimation/ABugsLife'', after the ants chase off his grasshoppers, Hooper decides to get revenge on Flick by kidnapping him as a rain storm is starting, leading to him being pursued by Princess Atta and the circus bugs. After Atta saves Flick, Hopper pursues them, ultimately cornering Flick, saying that he hasn't won as he'll recruit a new army of grasshoppers to get his revenge on the ants, but not before he kills Flick. However, Hopper realizes too late that Flick [[FamilyUnfriendlyDeath had led him to a bird's nest]].* At the end of ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'', after the Incredibles have defeated the Omnidroid, his plan to be the world's greatest hero is ruined, and he's lost all his resources, Syndrome decides to invade the Incredibles' home and kidnap Jack Jack. Two factors that foiled it were Jack Jack's superpowers manifesting and Syndrome's [[WrongGenreSavvy genre savviness not including]] the concept of a CapeSnag.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]* The finale of ''Film/{{Sanjuro}}'' with the duel against tragic villain Muroto.* Khan quotes [[Literature/MobyDick Captain Ahab]] at the end of ''Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan''.* ''Film/StreetFighter'': "What happened to the purity of unarmed combat?"* Colonel Quaritch of J.C.'s 'Film/{{Avatar}}'.* Most ''Film/JamesBond'' villains:** Auric Film/{{Goldfinger}} escaped the destruction of his base, he cornered Bond and Pussy Galore on a plane to the White House, holding them up with a literal golden gun, only to miss his target and shoot a window before being sucked out of the plane and [[DisneyVillainDeath falling to his death]].** His Stealth Yacht was burning but Elliot Carver from ''Film/TomorrowNeverDies'' still had a backup plan. Unfortunately after kicking Bond in the balls and holding him at gunpoint, he felt the need to explain this backup plan, giving Bond time to push him into the path of a [[BuffySpeak whirling propellor thing]].* In ''Film/{{The Avengers|2012}}'', it becomes clear that Loki's entire plan is this to some extent; he already lost Asgard, the kingdom he actually wanted, in ''Film/{{Thor}}'', and so he tries to take the Earth instead, mainly to spite his brother. Before and during the final battle, [[Film/IronMan Tony Stark]] explains at some length that "there is no version of this where you come out on top", Thor incredulously asks "You think this madness will end with your rule!?" and Loki doesn't actually refute what they say. On the contrary, there are several points throughout the film where it's made very clear that he sees no other option but to keep going, and the audience knows that he is being threatened with a FateWorseThanDeath if he fails to deliver the Tesseract to [[spoiler:his mysterious benefactor, Thanos]]. Essentially, he knows that he'll almost certainly fail, but his pride won't let him surrender without trying every trick he can think of and it takes [[spoiler: [[CurbStompBattle a hilariously one-sided confrontation]] with TheIncredibleHulk]] to convince him that he really can't win.* In ''Film/IronMan1'', Pepper manages to obtain evidence of Obadiah's villainy and get it to the authorities. Realizing he's screwed, Obadiah snaps and enters the Iron Monger suit in a desperate bid to kill everyone involved. Pepper outright says that he's gone insane.* In ''Film/ManOfSteel'', Zod does this when [[spoiler: his entire army is sealed in the Phantom Zone with his ship and all of his weapons. He even masters a full set of Kryptonian powers for the fight.]]* In the climax of ''Film/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesIITheSecretOfTheOoze'', the Shredder, defeated and humiliated for the second time, drinks the last vial of mutagen, mutating himself into what Donatello calls a "Super-Shredder", an ogre-sized monster blinded by rage. Determined to crush his foes [[TakingYouWithMe even if he goes with them]] he tears the entire pier they're under apart until it collapses; fortunately, the Turtles are able to survive by leaping into the river, [[spoiler:and while it looks like the Shredder [[RaisedHandOfSurvival might make it out too at the end]], [[DeadHandShot he does not]].]]* At the end of ''Film/{{Serenity}}'', the Operative didn't really need to come after Mal on his own, even if his Alliance support had their hands full fighting the Reavers. And yet, after failing to blow Serenity out of the sky due to said Reavers' arrival, he insisted on following Mal through an obstacle course with his sword.* In ''Film/TheWolverine'', Shingen’s battle with Logan could be interpreted as this, as he has lost everything by that point, and he just throws himself in a battle he can't win.* Interestingly, ''Film/LordOfTheRings'' ''starts'' with one, when, in the backstory, Sauron steps forward to oppose the Alliance army, after his orcs have seemingly all been vanquished. As covered by the second variety of the trope, he's [[OneManArmy quite]] capable of opposing them.* In the climax of ''Film/ErnestScaredStupid'', after Ernest and Kenny wipe out his entire troll army which he had spent the entire movie raising, Trantor calls upon all the dark spirits within the tree to take on a OneWingedAngel form (becoming strong enough to overcome [[WeaksauceWeakness his weakness to milk]]) for a final showdown with Ernest.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]* The ''AlexRider'' series:** Herod Sayle of ''Stormbreaker'' does this at the end of the book: his plans have been sabotaged, his CoDragons have been killed, and he's been publicly outed as evil. He plans to retreat far away and slowly build himself back up to power, but not before taking Alex's life. He fails in this because [[spoiler:the criminal organization that he was allied with now saw him as a liability, and had him killed right before he would have shot Alex.]]** Also happens in ''Point Blank.'' Dr. Grief's plan has been exposed and consequently ruined, and he and his Dragon are killed by [=MI6=]. So, how does he pull this trope? [[spoiler:Julius Grief, his last clone who had been surgically altered into a doppelgänger of Alex, tricks him into meeting him alone. Then he tries to kill him, pulling YouKilledMyFather as his motive.]] After a struggle, the villain is barely defeated.*** One could also count the Dragon, Eva Stellenbosch. She meets Alex during [=MI6=]'s invasion of the academy, and knowing that their plans were ruined, she decides to take what little vengeance she can by killing Alex.** A genuine example in ''Crocodile Tears'': Desmond [=McCain=] confronts Alex after his attempt to become filthy rich at the cost of millions of lives is foiled, his Dragon and fiancée is killed, and he's left with absolutely no hope of ever being able to rebuild his life. He confronts Alex in a way that screams VillainousBreakdown, demanding him to kneel before him so that he can kill him. Alex survives [[spoiler:thanks to his last gadget, an explosive pen that he attaches to an oil drum, which he then sends rolling over to [=McCain=]. They have enough time for one last exchange before the drum explodes and kills him.]]-->'''[=McCain=]''': Goodbye, Alex. You're going on a slow journey to Hell.-->'''Alex''': [[PreMortemOneLiner Let me know what it's like.]]* In Middle-Earth:** Saruman in ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' ("The Scouring Of The Shire").** Sauron at the end of the War of the Last Alliance; after losing most of his forces, he came out himself and faced ''both'' opposing leaders (Gil-Galad and Elendil) in a duel. He killed both of them, only to die himself (temporarily) when Elendil's son Isildur cut the One Ring off his hand. Subverted the previous time someone assaulted Sauron's fortress- when he realized that the [[TheEmpire Númenórean]] forces were too powerful for him to defeat, he came out to ''talk'', not fight- and he ended up [[MagnificentBastard wrapping them around his little finger]].* Almost every villain in ''Literature/{{Redwall}}'' has already lost the battle before their final fight with the hero of the book.* Hagen in the ending of the ''Literature/{{Nibelungenlied}}'', because given that among other things he murdered Siegfried and Kriemhild's and Etzel's infant son, there should be no question that he is a villain.* The first ''{{Mistborn}}'' book has this, of the OneManArmy variety. Throughout the book, killing the Lord Ruler is treated as the most insane objective of an already impossible-seeming plan to overthrow TheEmpire. When the final stage of the plan is put into action, Vin meets the Lord Ruler face to face and realizes that yes, he can indeed still kick all their asses singlehandedly. The garrison is mostly absent; what's left has either defected or been defeated; the nobles are all hiding in their keeps if they haven't outright surrendered; and the order of [[TheDragon dragons]] has been destroyed from within. But even as the resistance army [[ZergRush Zerg Rushes]] the palace, the Lord Ruler decries them as [[OhCrap beneath his notice]]. Somehow, Vin has to figure out how to kill him. Cue FinalBoss battle.* ''Literature/SeptimusHeap'': [[spoiler:Merrin Meredith's]] fight against Septimus in the river in ''Darke'' can be seen as this, since he's just lost his dragon and the control over the Darke Domaine and has barely anything to lose.* Several ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' villains do this, because most ''Discworld'' heroes try to foil the villain's EvilPlan first or break the villain's power in non-fighting ways: The actual physical showdown then comes afterwards when the villain's danger level has gone from 'dangerous to the world' to 'dangerous to the heroes personally' and [[AndYourLittleDogToo are looking for payback for their ruined plan]]. For an incomplete list, this is pulled by villains in ''Discworld/GuardsGuards'', ''Discworld/WitchesAbroad'', ''Discworld/MenAtArms'', ''Discworld/{{Hogfather}}'', ''Discworld/{{Maskerade}}'', ''Discworld/CarpeJugulum'', ''Discworld/TheFifthElephant'', ''Discworld/NightWatch'' and ''Discworld/MakingMoney''. The villains of ''Discworld/{{Snuff}}'' and ''Discworld/UnseenAcademicals'' actually have this trope defied on them when someone else decides to ShootTheDog instead of letting them come back to haunt the heroes.* At the end of ''Literature/WatershipDown,'' General Woundwort has been faced down by the heroes' BigGuy and his troops utterly demoralized by the WaifProphet. Then the Down rabbits' ''real'' plan comes into play - turning a large dog loose against the Efrafans. Even now, Woundwort ''will not'' seek sanctuary with his enemies. He dies fighting.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]* The ''Franchise/PowerRangers'' series has several examples of this:** In ''Series/PowerRangersLostGalaxy'', after Trakeena [[MookDepletion loses her entire army]] (though that was because she had them [[SuicideAttack perform kamikaze tactics]]), her ship is destroyed, and all her minions are gone, she enters the cocoon her father made for her to take on the OneWingedAngel form she was destined for and in an act of pure desperation, powers up the remains of the Terra Venture and attempts to crash it into the planet Mirinoi where the colony had flown to in an attempt to destroy them and the Power Rangers. Either she overlooked the fact that she would die too if she succeeded, she felt she was powerful enough to survive the crash, or she was just trying to pull a TakingYouWithMe.** ''Series/PowerRangersTimeForce'' has Ransik taking a last stand as well. [[spoiler: It is inverted when he nearly wipes out the Rangers single-handed - he gets his visor blown off, but it ends up with just him and a demorphed, barely-standing Jen. He's only "defeated" when he attacks his own daughter by mistake, at which point he realizes that being so obsessed with his hatred almost cost him the only one he loved. After that, he surrenders.]]** An inverted version of the trope appears at the end of ''Series/PowerRangersWildForce''. Even though the [[SupervillainLair Nexus]] is destroyed, he has no more monsters, and [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere his Co-Dragons have walked out on him]], Master Org's final form after completing his transformation using the Org Heart is that of a OneWingedAngel so powerful that he singlehandedly brings the rangers the closest they've been to being defeated by destroying all of their Wild Zords, stripping them of their powers, and causing the Animarium to fall out of the sky. He very nearly won [[DeusExMachina until the Wild Zords miraculously returned with all the lost Wild Zords, giving the rangers more power than ever, enabling them to destroy Master Org once and for all]].** ''Series/PowerRangersDinoThunder'' has this as well with BigBad Mesogog: His minions are gone, his base is destroyed, his plans are ruined, and his [[TheDragon Dragon]]-turned-[[TheStarscream Starscream]]'s massive Zord failed to defeat the rangers. Mesogog then confronts the rangers, and states that he managed to absorb enough power from their Dino Gems to complete his transfiguration. After saying the line below, [[spoiler:he [[OneWingedAngel evolves into Mesomonster]], a [[SelfDuplication self-replicating]] and nearly invincible beast. It takes literally everything the rangers have to destroy him.]]-->'''Mesogog''': Witness the face of...your final battle!** In ''Series/PowerRangersSPD'', Emperor Gruumm ultimately takes a last stand as well. [[spoiler:After his army is destroyed and Omni has fallen, Gruumm erupts from the rubble of Omni's mechnical body and challenges his nemesis Doggie Cruger to one last battle. When Doggie wins, Gruumm orders him to end it, but Doggie refuses, instead cutting his other horn off and arresting him.]]** In ''[[Series/PowerRangersMegaforce Power Rangers Super Megaforce]]'', it's not the overall leader of the Armada, Emperor Mavro, who makes the last stand -- [[spoiler:as he was killed beforehand at the hands of the rangers. The remnants of the Armada, who are a colossal army of X-Borgs, do; making this a subversion of the DecapitatedArmy trope. It takes the efforts of every Power Ranger in existence to finish off the remnants]].* Very common in the original ''Franchise/KamenRider'' series. Many of the Generals/Commandants/Warlords, whatever they were called in their specific organization, would face down their Rider after he'd slaughtered their armies and ruined their plans enough, transform into a monstrous form with incredible power behind it, and fight the Riders one on one.** Subverted in ''Series/KamenRider'', ''Series/KamenRiderV3'', and ''Series/KamenRiderAmazon'' however, as the Great Leader was literally torn apart without a fight in each series.** Happens by default in ''Series/KamenRiderDouble'', since BigBad [[spoiler:Jun Kazu[=/=]Utopia Dopant didn't actually have any minions or allies, and he's all that's left standing after original BigBad Ryubee Sonozaki was defeated a couple of episodes before]].* On ''Series/{{Angel}}'' after her brainwashing powers are lost, Jasmine declares that if she can't rule the world she's going to destroy it. She shrugs off everything Angel tries to throw at her, but we don't get to see how she actually intends to accomplish her new goal because [[spoiler: Connor, whose [[NotBrainwashed immunity to her powers]] apparently stretched to ignoring her invulnerability, shows up and kills her]].** In the season 3 premiere, kills a vampire who he then realises was Elisabeth, who, with her boyfriend James, were friends with Angelus and Darla for a time. James decides he has nothing left to live for other than revenge against Angel and undergoes an operation in which his heart is removed, guaranteeing he will die in 24 hours, but rendering him invulnerable until then.* The 9th season finale of ''Series/CriminalMinds'' has Preacher Justin Mills do this against the FBI and the local police. [[spoiler:It's actually invoked by the DirtyCops in order to set him up as the killer, but by this point the BAU has deduced he's being set up.]]* In the ''Series/DoctorWho'' episode [[Recap/DoctorWhoS5E1TheTombOfTheCybermen "The Tomb of the Cybermen"]], after the Cybermen have either been sealed back in their Tombs or destroyed, the Cyber Controller makes a last attempt to leave the Tombs. This is stopped by the HeroicSacrifice of Toberman, who [[YouShallNotPass closes the doors]] giving them both an electric shock. Although it is revealed in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS22E1AttackOfTheCybermen "Attack of the Cybermen"]] that the Controller survived.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Theater]]* OlderThanSteam: Shakespeare's ''Theatre/{{Macbeth}}'':-->''I will not yield,''-->''To kiss the ground before young Malcolm's feet,''-->''And to be baited with the rabble's curse.''-->''Though Birnam wood be come to Dunsinane,''-->''And thou opposed, being of no woman born,''-->''Yet I will try the last. Before my body''-->''I throw my warlike shield. Lay on, Macduff,''-->''And damn'd be him that first cries, 'Hold, enough!'''* Shakespeare's ''Theatre/RichardIII'', who refuses a chance to escape so he can keep fighting. The play is one of the best examples of HistoricalVillainUpgrade but this is very much TruthInTelevision.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Theme Parks]]* This occurs in the finale of the former ''Ride/JimmyNeutronsNicktoonBlast'' ride at [[Ride/UniversalStudios Universal Studios Florida]], when King Goobot, after having his plans completely ruined, comes down to earth on his own to exact his vengeance against the heroes.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]* While every Mega Man boss is willing to hop in a mech or whip out a new battle body when you finally confront them, Epsilon of ''VideoGame/MegaManXCommandMission'' is a little different in that he's fueled not by desperation, but by belief in his ideals and goal. [[spoiler:He's also a little different in that he's not the FinalBoss.]]-->"I can see you are determined. But [[TheDragon Scarface]]...I will not run from this fight. For I know that this bridge must be crossed to achieve our ideal. They will tremble before the power of...Epsilon!"* At the end of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'', Ganondorf, after all his temple bosses are destroyed, his soldiers have all been eliminated, and even his castle is demolished, flies into a VillainousBreakdown fueled rage and uses the [[CosmicKeystone Triforce of Power]] to transform into Ganon for one last battle with Link.** Minus the transformation (he did that earlier with some puppets), Ganondorf does the same thing at the end of ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker The Wind Waker]]'' as the heavens [[spoiler:actually the OCEANS]] rain down around them and Hyrule is lost to him forever.** And in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess Twilight Princess]]'', after the Twilight has been purged from Hyrule and is unlikely to return, Zelda has been freed, and Hyrule Castle destroyed, Ganondorf does it again, first on horseback and then on foot.** Regardless of the above pattern, ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast A Link to the Past]]'' provides an inversion, as the whole point of rescuing the maidens in the Dark World was to get Link into a position where he could kill Ganon before the latter could escape into the Light World. If the last fight was lost, Ganon would theoretically have been able to proceed with his plan.* Desann in ''[[VideoGame/DarkForcesSaga Jedi Outcast]]'' still chooses to duke it out with Katarn, despite losing his entire fleet and most of his strike troops having been wiped out by the Jedi. Admittedly he doesn't even know the attack has failed until Kyle tells him just before the fight, and the entire thing was a diversion to get him to the Academy basement where the fight takes place anyway.* [[spoiler:The Elder]] Princess Shroob in ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiPartnersInTime'', after the Shroobs are defeated and [[PostClimaxConfrontation the game is seemingly over]], fuses with Bowser in a last-ditch attempt to kill the Mario Bros. and their baby selves.* By the time you reach Colonel Autumn in ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'', the Enclave has been utterly annihilated by your indestructible 40-foot tall super-robot, and all that's left of Autumn's army is him and his 2 bodyguards. Despite this, he proclaims that "the Enclave is at the height of its power!" and seems [[SuicidalOverconfidence suicidally overconfident]] that he can take you, despite being a massively underpowered ZeroEffortBoss.* Mook example: Behemoth Kings in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'' start off pretty strong, and when their HP gets down to half, they [[TurnsRed stand up.]] But it's when they're at under 10% HP that they're at their most dangerous: they'll start spamming [[ThatOneAttack Sunder]] ''every few seconds''! If you're not prepared for it, this ''will'' kill you then and there. (At this point it's easily enough to one-shot your Medic, and the battle is pretty much Unwinnable from there.)* [[TheDragon Araman]] pulls this in ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights2: Mask of the Betrayer'' after [[spoiler:you win your Crusade against the Fugue Plane]]. Considering [[spoiler:you've killed him once already]], and your party likely consists of four [=30th=]-level characters, this qualifies him as TooDumbToLive.* Liquid Ocelot in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4''. Even after having most of his forces wiped out, from his Metal Gears being destroyed to his elite soldiers being essentially lobotomized after the destruction of the Patriots ([[ItMakesSenseInContext long story]]), he still faces Snake in one final, climactic boss battle atop Outer Haven.*** This is actually a rather interesting example, because at this point he's actually won. He chooses a LastVillainStand because his mission is complete and he's now just a old soldier, looking for a worthy final battle (and believes the same is true for Snake).** Liquid in VideoGame/MetalGearSolid is another great example. After losing his standing army, all his allies, and Metal Gear, with no hope of attaining any of his initial objectives, he survives getting a missile to the face (the very same missile that ruined the super weapon on him). Assuming they are going to be hit by an air strike and die anyway, he decides to take out the frustration on Snake. He sets up an elaborate death trap to kill Snake's girlfriend involving a piece of dynamite, then has a fist fight on top of the super weapon with Snake to prove his superiority (even though, as previously stated, he took a missile to the face, said missile was also strong enough to knock out Snake; the one who fired it). After Snake defeats him, he seemingly falls to his death, yet still manages to chase them in a machine gun car fight. Then, after surviving a car crash, he still crawls after Snake, ready for murder. Only then does he finally die from a virus he received upon first coming into contact with Snake, meaning his entire encounter was one last stand even before losing everything else.* Dahau in ''VideoGAme/ValkyriaChroniclesIII''. He refuses to obey the peace treaty, and with what remains of his troops, he activates a Valkyrian superweapon. In fact, in this battle, he ''can't'' die, even if you sic your Valkyria at him; you must deactivate the superweapon.* Happens about three times in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening''. After most of his forces are either decimated or deserted, Gangrel, the king of Plegia, makes his last stand in a wasteland with only a few troops left that are loyal to him. The second is against Emperor Walhart, where the player's army manages to corner him in his own throne room before finishing him off, after killing two of his generals. The last time is against Validar, whose attempt to corrupt the player ends in failure and he is forced to defend himself the old-fashioned way. All three times, a foreboding tune with ''OminousLatinChanting'' is playing in the background.* In ''Videogame/ResidentEvil5'', Albert Wesker has lost practically everything by the end. He's killed off and betrayed all of his allies, his resources are gone, and the heroes have just managed to crash his plane robbing him of his only chance to unleash his bioweapon upon the world. All he has left is a single canister of the bioweapon. Wesker refuses to surrender and [[OneWingedAngel exposes himself to the bioweapon]] (which WordOfGod confirms would have eventually consumed him). All for one last chance to finally kill his hated ArchEnemy Chris Redfield.* The ending of ''Videogame/BaldursGate'' features this. Unmasked before the public as the mastermind of the entire iron shortage and attempted war with Amn, Sarevok flees into some caves underneath the city with his most loyal subordinates so he can go down fighting all the interest groups (the Iron Throne, the Flaming Fist, the PlayerCharacter) now out for his head.* ''VideoGame/FullThrottle'' has Ripburger pulling this after he's exposed as Malcolm's killer, and his plans to take over Corley Motors are consequently annihilated. He chases after Mo and Ben in a stolen semi, and his plan is to pull a TakingYouWithMe by driving them off of Poyahoga Gorge.* At the end of ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong64'', after the Kongs deactivate the [[WaveMotionGun Blast-]][[ThingOMatic o-Matic]] before it can destroy Kong Island and [[VillainExitStageLeft his escape attempt]] is thwarted by [[MookFaceTurn K.Lumsy]], [[BigBad K.Rool]] has a FinalBattle with the Kongs in a fixed boxing match.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]* An inversion appears in ''WesternAnimation/Ben10UltimateAlien''. Despite no longer having his army of MechaMooks, the newest BigBad, Aggregor, doesn't need them or anyone else since his OneWingedAngel [[OneManArmy transformation]]. [[spoiler:He had a tendency to do everything on his own anyway]].* In ''WesternAnimation/WinxClub'', near Valtor's end, he is humiliated by the Winx, loses most of the spells he stole, is abandoned by the Trix, and is nearly crushed by all the water of Lake Roccaluce. He survives and kidnaps the Specialists in order to lure the Winx to Andros and kill them with his last stolen spell, the Spell of the Elements. He ends up losing that and then loses control of his body to the Ancestral Witches before Bloom finishes him off.* Megatron of ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'' pulls one after the initial test run of his superweapons fails and decides to just give up on conquering Cybertron in favor of destroying Detroit and the Autobots who have opposed him over the course of the series.* Said word-for-word by Megatron in ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime'' at the end of the penultimate episode of the series.* Kuvira in the GrandFinale of ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'' (which is appropriately titled "The Last Stand"). She keeps fighting even after losing her [[spoiler: HumongousMecha]], and only relents after [[spoiler: Korra saves her life.]]* In ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2003'', during the Turtles' third showdown with the Shredder at the TCRI building, the Shredder, enraged that the Turtles allowed the Utroms to escape, vows to not let them leave alive, not caring about his implosion device that will take him with it. The Turtles manage to overwhelm him [[spoiler:learning his true identity as an Utrom in the process]] before escaping the building before it implodes, taking Shredder with it, supposedly destroying him for good this time.[[/folder]]